Advertisers have begun to divert – or even throw – much more money Facebook’s way, according to one of the company’s top execs.  COO Sheryl Sandberg indicated in an interview that some large organizations have increased their spending ten- or twentyfold in the last year.

Although it isn’t quite a done deal, Texas Governor Rick Perry seems to have more or less ensured that Facebook will open a sales and operations office in Austin.  Perry’s offered the company $1.4 million as an incentive to establish the branch and create some jobs.

Never mind swine flu – it may in fact be time to start watching out for flying oinkers.  Social networking archrivals Facebook and MySpace are discussing the idea of sharing content, according to people at the highest levels of both organizations.

Last week Facebook announced that it had surpassed 300 million users, and now the company has announced a strategic partnership with the Nielsen Company. This partnership is aimed at helping marketers better use the web for developing and marketing new products.

On most radars, Facebook wasn’t going to make the political news this week. But it is, and twice. We’ll start with the wingnut, bat-guano crazy and move on to the counterintuitive defense of a public figure by a social network executive. Nothing like some anticlimactic structure to start your weekend, eh?

But there’s surely enough in the beginning to last you: Impeach Obama groups are already appearing on Facebook.

Sigh.

Two things:

Almost seven months have passed since Owen Van Natta ceased to act as Facebook’s COO.  Now the company has named a replacement, and her – yes, her – name is Sheryl Sandberg.